Flexible copper foam-based phase change materials with good stiffness-toughness balance, electro-to-thermal conversion ability and shape memory function for intelligent thermal management

Abstract Flexible phase change composites (PCMs) show great potential for the thermal management in confined spaces. However, some defects such as low mechanical strength, low thermal/electrical conductivity have limited their advanced applications. In this work, flexible PCMs based on copper-coated melamine foam (MF@Cu) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared. The MF@Cu foams obtained by electroless copper plating on porous MF were used to encapsulate PEG. Due to the continuous copper network, MF@Cu foams not only enhanced the mechanical loading and encapsulation capacities of PCMs, but also imparted PCMs with electro-to-thermal conversion capability. Moreover, the MF@Cu/PEG PCMs exhibited excellent thermal-induced shape memory property by combining the elasticity of foams and the phase change of PEG. This multifunctional MF@Cu/PEG PCMs were further applied for the thermal management of electronic devices. Therefore, this study provides a strategy to prepare flexible PCMs with excellent integrated performances, which is beneficial to broaden the applications of PCMs.